Secrets
by RedRosePetal
Summary: Secrets have a cost. He knew this, but what could he do? If he didn't keep the secret then who knew what would happen. Both to him and the ones closest to him. He could not allow the secret to be discover, he had to keep it. He had to protect those closest to him.
1. Chapter 1

Yo! It's me! I am back with this ficlet!

This chapter is sort of a trail to see what you guys think so do let me know!

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

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 **Chapter 1**

Yugi lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. His throat felt like it was on fire, something wasn't right. Sighing internally, Yugi closed his eyes perhaps it was a good thing that he wasn't feeling well. That way he could avoid _them_. A gang from school had taken to forcing him to do the school work they thought where 'beneath' them. He'd tried to tell them to leave him alone but that had ended up with a rather hard kick to the ribs. Yugi continued to doze; there wasn't much point in getting up. He wasn't feeling good and it wasn't time to get up yet. He was slipping back off to sleep when there was a loud crash, followed by a loud foreign swear word. Yugi opened his eyes, as he recognised the shout of the former Pharaoh. He thought about getting up to check on him but what he heard next stopped him. There was laughter, the laugh belonged to Grandpa.

"You plank, how did you manage that?" He heard Grandpa say, by the sounds of Grandpa was still chuckling.

Yugi couldn't hear Atem response but whatever it was made Grandpa laugh even more.

"I told you that tucking your bedsheet a tight as that was a bad idea, this was bound to happen."

A smile crossed Yugi's face, he knew what had happened. Atem had taken to tucking his bed sheet really tight so he'd obviously got stuck in the sheets and fallen out of bed. Yugi sat up, wanting to see what had happened, but when he did the whole world was spinning making him feel rather sick. As his ears roared he vaguely heard the sounds of the other two moving around outside or the door to his room open until there was a voice.

"Yugi? Are you alright?"

Yugi looked up; Grandpa was standing in the doorway a concerned look on his face. He shuffled over to you, kneeling in front of him. Yugi was desperately pale and had dark rings under his eyes. Grandpa placed an hand on Yugi's forehead and frowned.

"You've got a fever my boy, there's no way you're going to school today. You're staying in bed mister."

Yugi made no agreement; he was more than willing to stay in bed. He lay back down but kept eye contact with Grandpa.

"Is Atem alright? I heard him shout earlier."

Grandpa started to chuckle again; "He tried get out of bed, got tangled in his sheets, fell out of bed and whacked his head on his bedside table but he's fine. He'll probably have an impressive black eye but he'll be alright."

Yugi suppressed a laugh, "I told him it that was a bad idea."

"Yeah but _his highness_ knows best."

Yugi couldn't help but laugh now. Grandpa excused himself to fetch some water; Yugi on the other curled up under the covers and closed his eyes. There wasn't much noise apart from the distant voices. His thoughts turned to the school day ahead. He had a horrible feeling that his absent would be noticed by those thugs. Who knew what they might do when they found out. Would they come round? Or, would they be ok with it? He snorted; of course they would not be ok with it. There would be a good chance that the gang would appear after school, they normally did. He heard the door open and the sound of a glass being placed on his bedside table. Yugi opened his eyes to see Atem standing beside his bed, looking at him with a cornered look on his face.

"You look awful." He said, frowning.

"Thanks Pharaoh." Yugi said, a bemused appearing on his face.

Yugi spotted blood oozing from a small wound by Atem's left eye. The skin around it was already turning purple. Yugi laughed;

"So I hear you fell out of bed this morning."

Atem seated himself on the corner of the latter's bed and let out a groan.

"Don't you start, Solomon's been teasing me all morning."

Atem didn't like calling Solomon 'Grandpa' as well they weren't related and it just felt odd.

"I did tell you that making the sheets that tight was a bad idea. You ok?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

Yugi frowned, "Are you really alright Atem? I don't want you to collapse at work or anything."

Atem smiled, "Kaiba has around a dozen medics at KaibaCorp so don't worry." He looked at his watch, "Speaking of Kaiba, I need to go. Sleep Yugi, I will call later to check on you."

Yugi smiled, "Stop being so protective of me Atem."

The Pharaoh just smiled before leaving the room. Yugi watched him go before his eyes fell upon the Puzzle which was lying on his desk. Atem had chosen to stay and live out his life with them but as he technically didn't belong in this world, he had no body. The puzzle was how he was being sustained; he depended on it for survival. He didn't have to keep it on him, he could potentially be seriously injured but that would be when to puzzle would step in to keep him alive on the other hand if the puzzle was destroyed then that would be the end of the Pharaoh. Since the Pharaoh was at least nineteen he didn't have to attend school, not that the Pharaoh would want to, so he started working with Kaiba. This had been slightly weird for the gang at first as, in Joey's words, Atem would spend serving Kaiba like a maid. But that was not the case; Atem was basically Kaiba's second in command which was pretty cool. Yugi closed his eyes, he was intending to take a nap. Hopefully when he awoke he would feel better.

* * *

"Dean. That punk Yugi hasn't turned up."

Dean turned round, "That arsehole what is he thinking taking the day off."

"What should we do? We need that punk." James said.

Dean didn't respond, he turned away looking out at all the other students who were flooding into the school grounds. That punk thought he would take the day off and expect them not to notice. They would have to do something about that, something to make sure that that punk never again thought he could disappear. Dean caught the eye of Joey Wheeler. They glared at each other.

"Hey, What you looking at?" Joey snapped, continuing to glare at Dean.

"I'm waiting for you to make an arse of yourself." Dean smirked.

Joey was about to retaliate when Tristan and Tea came running over to him. He glanced back at where Dean had been but he had vanished. The three of them starting walking to their class.

"Hey, did Yugi text you guys?" Tea asked.

Joey looked around, "No.. where is he? It's not like him to be late."

"Yeah, he's not coming in today. The poor guy not very well."

"We should go see him after school." Tristan said.

"Yeah and check out Atem's black eyes!"

The other two looked at her so she elaborated;

"Apparently, the Pharaoh fell out of his bed this morning and whacked his head and according to Yugi he has an impress black eye developing."

There was a pause before both boys roared with laughter; they were still chucklng when they got to their first lesson. Eventually, they calmed down and their school day began. But Joey could not help but notice that even so often the creep Dean or one of his cronies would keep glancing at them. What were they up to?

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Did you enjoy?

I haven't really made a plan yet, I want to see what you're response it before I take this further. I realise that this is only chapter 1 so nothing has really happened yet but do let me know what you think! So please review!

I finish my university year in around 3 weeks so bear with me while I get my last assignments out the way but after that I'm all yours in a manner of speaking haha

See ya soon!

~RedRosePetal


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

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 **Chapter 2**

Yugi was curled on the sofa, the television some program that he'd lost interest in a while ago but he was feeling too rough to pick up the remote and change the channel. He'd spent most of the morning asleep but had moved into the living room in the early afternoon. He hated how much of a burden he'd been to Grandpa. Poor Grandpa had been trying run the shop whilst constantly making sure that his grandson was alright. Then there was Atem who'd been texting him all day and even rang around lunchtime, but that conversation had ended when Yugi had heard Kaiba calling Atem to a meeting. Yugi was worried that his illness had interfered with Atem's work. Pulling his duvet closer to him, he intended to take a snooze but there was a vibrating sound, somebody had text him. Pulling his phone out from where it had fallen, annoyingly this was from between the sofa cushions, and looked at who had text him. Fear crept into his veins when he saw the name 'Dean' written on the screen. He stared at the message, the fear he was feeling was getting stronger. He didn't notice that Grandpa had entered the room until he spoke;

"You're engrossed in that text message. Is it from Atem?"

Yugi jumped, "Oh.. erm yeah it… was."

"What did he say?"

"Um… well.." Yugi stammered, he could not tell Grandpa who had really text him, "It… it was nothing important."

Grandpa nodded and moved into the kitchen. Yugi stared at the entrance to the kitchen, a worried and almost frightned look on his face. He could not tell him or anyone what was going on, who knew what would happen. He was brought out of his thinking when there was a loud crash followed by;

"TRISTAN! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!"

Yugi shared a small smile, it had only been a day but he had missed the petty arguments that Joey and Tristan had. They could be over such small things, the day before yesterday they had argued over a shoe lace. He wasn't even sure how that particular argument had started... or how it had finished but it had been highly amusing for both himself and Tea. The three of them finally entered the room; Joey and Tristan were glaring at each other.

"Hey Yugi," Tea greeted, "You feeling any better?"

"Not really but I'll be ok. Did I miss much today?"

"Nope. It was a pretty dull day to be honest."

General conversation broke out, although Joey and Tristan continued to glare at each other every now and again. Yugi glanced at the clock, noting that it had gone five o'clock which meant that Atem would be home fairly soon. The gang stayed over to have dinner, although Yugi could barely managed anything, and there was still no sign of Atem. Grandpa had called him with no response. It was only as Yugi and the others crashed out on the sofa at seven thirty that the front door opened and Atem appeared.

"You're back late." Grandpa remarked.

"A three and a half meeting over the colour blue." Atem stated, collapsing into a chair, "Over three hours deciding what shade of blue we should use."

Joey and Tristan started laughing.

"Seriously?" Yugi asked a small smile on his face.

"Oh, yes. Did you know that there are 160 shades of blue to choose from?"

The others just laughed. The conversation turned to the massive bruise on Atem's face and when the gang found out the reason behind that they burst out laughing. Atem just sighed, closing his eyes. He was exhausted, the temptation to just fall asleep right there was hard to ignore. Although, he was pretty sure he had drifted off as the next time he opened his eyes the room was dark apart from the lights which were on in the kitchen. Stretching, he entered the kitchen to search for food. Instead he found Grandpa standing by the sink washing up.

"Look who's awake." Grandpa said.

"How long was I asleep?" Atem asked, taking a glass from the cupboard.

"About an hour, I was going to wake you in a minute if you hadn't woken. Do you want something to eat?"

Atem nodded, taking a seat at the table; "Has Yugi gone to bed?"

"He has." Grandpa sighed as he placed a plate in front of Atem, "He's really jumpy. He was really jumpy when you text him just before Joey and the others arrived. And, then just before he went to bed."

"I last text him at midday so it wasn't me." The former King looked at Grandpa in confusion.

Solomon frowned, that raised the question what had made Yugi so jumpy earlier. Perhaps it was just down to the fact that he really wasn't well. Solomon stayed with Atem whilst he was eating befrore they both when upstairs to bed.

* * *

Yugi was woken by the sounds of his phone. Reaching across to it he saw a new text message; he opened it and read it.

' _Outside now. D.'_

Fear crept into his veins; he knew that he had to go down. He could not walk in a straight line as the world would not stop spinning. How he managed to make it downstairs without waking Grandpa and Atem was beyond him. Coming to the front door, he unlocked it. Dean and his gang were stood there, they were glaring at him.

"So, you thought you could just skip out on school and think he wouldn't notice." Dean said.

Yugi trembled as he met those cold, dark eyes. He said nothing; he knew that there was nothing he could say which would stop whatever punishment would be coming.

"You have made this ten times worse now." A hand clenched his throat, "So whatever we tell you to do, you do _without_ question."

A sharp pain erupted on the side of his face, "Oh, and what happens if you tell anyone." Another punch, "You don't want to know."

The next thing he knew, he was on the floor trying to stem the blood which was pouring from his nose. Slowly, he got to his feet although he swayed slightly. Hopefully he would be able to get back upstairs without bumping into either Atem or Grandpa. He managed to get into the kitchen with no issue but when he got to the living room he ran into a problem.

"Yugi? What are you doing up this early? It's half past five in the morning!"

It was Atem; he had just come down the stairs. It seemed as though he just woken up as he was still in his pyjamas although he had put a jumper on.

"Are you….." Atem trailed off as he saw Yugi's bleeding nose, "What happened?"

Yugi allowed himself to be directed back into the kitchen and into a kitchen chair. The former Pharaoh turned away as he fetched some tissue for Yugi. Yugi bowed his head, how was he going explain this. A tissue appeared in front of him; he accepted it but still did not look up. There was silence in the room apart from the sound of the kettle boiling. Yugi wasn't sure why but he was worried that Atem was angry at him. Looking up, he saw Atem standing by the window. He seemed to be fixated by something. But, feeling Yugi's gaze on him, he turned and smiled. Before he sat down he poured the hot water into his coffee mug.

"What happened?"

"I… I was trying to get some water but I'm still so unsteady that I walked into the door."

A small smile appeared on Atem's face but Yugi caught the look in his eye. He knew what that subtle look meant; it meant that there was he was not buying. But he seemed to let the subject go.

"What… What are you doing up this early?" Yugi asked, still holding the tissue to his nose.

"Kaiba called and he wants an early meeting."

Yugi nodded slowly, he looked away. How he had got himself into his mess? What had Dean meant when he said that he would have to anything he was told. He would have to do it because he knew that Dean was serious and if he did not then he knew the consequence. Yugi sighed internally, what was he going to do?

After ten minutes his nose stopped bleeding. Although he was still feeling very rough, he did want to go back to bed but it seemed like it was so far away so he ended up crashing on the sofa where he fell asleep. Atem brought down Yugi's duvet and threw it over him. It was not long before Grandpa came down.

"He had a nose bleed at half five." Atem said, looking to Solomon as he sorted his collar. "He said he was getting water but walked into the door."

Solomon looked at Atem, "That's alright isn't it. He is so unsteady right now."

"Something… something isn't right there's something he is not saying."

Solomon looked between Yugi and Atem. It could be a little weird at times that Atem knew Yugi as well as he did but then when two people have shared a mind they would pick up on the hidden signals.

"Well, if anyone can find out it's you." Solomon said, his gaze resting on Yugi.

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Well I hope you enjoyed!

Please leave a review! I love hearing what you guys are thinking about it! So please review!

I will hopefully get another chapter out to you as soon as possible only 2 weeks left until Summer Holidays! :D

See You Soon!

~RedRosePetal


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

X

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 **Chapter 3**

The only sound in the office was the tapping of keys on the keyboard and the occasional slip of coffee. Atem had a slight frown on his face as he studied whatever he was looking at the screen. His office was a reasonable size. There was a large window, similar to the one in Kaiba's office, and a row of bookcases on the opposite side to the window beside the door. The desk was positioned with the window to the left and the bookcases to the right; behind it was a row of filing cabinets. In front of the desk were two arm chairs facing the desk, there was a TV on the wall behind those chairs although it was not switched on. Scratching his head, Atem glanced down at a piece of paper on the desk before he continued typing. After a while there was a knock on the door and Kaiba walked in.

"I have sent the Fax to Alan." Kaiba said, strolling to the window, "And, I have got the engineers working, they are just waiting for the response of the market research before they can continue."

Atem looked up, "Why haven't they got the results of the market research yet?"

"Because, I haven't sent the person to the market research yet. It's all set up and they are waiting."

"Who's going on the market research?"

"You."

Atem gave Kaiba a look, which said 'Really?'. Kaiba just stared back. A few seconds passed until Atem said;

"Fine!" He got up from his chair, placing the piece of paper back in the filing cabinet, "Where am I going?"

"Domino High School."

Atem pulled on his coat and readjusted his KaibaCorp lanyard, "If there are no biscuits waiting for me when I get back there will be trouble."

Kaiba snorted in amusement walked towards the door, pausing he said, "Let me know when you get back, I want to hear the results."

* * *

Dean and his cronies surrounded Yugi, who was on the floor looking up at them.

"What do you call this?!" Dean cried, throwing a pile of paper at the smaller boy, "It's a bloody disgrace."

"I-I-I'm sorry! I t-tried!"

Dean kicked the boy's bag, "How dare you! You know your place; you know what you had to do!"

Tears were in Yugi's eyes as he prepared himself for the punch that he knew was coming. Dean had pulled his fist but a golden glint caught his eye. Glancing down, he saw a golden pyramid in the boy's bag. Picking it up him looked for it to the boy.

"What is this?"

Yugi looked up, his blood ran cold. Dean was holding the Millennium Puzzle; he couldn't let him take that. Atem's life was attached to that and he'd entrusted it to Yugi to keep it safe. He'd known that Yugi would still want the puzzle so allowed him to keep it safe, he did not know that Yugi had started taking it to school with him. Now that Dean had it, Atem's live was in danger.

"Please! Give that back to me! Take anything else but not that!"

Dean smirked, "Oh no, I shall be keeping this." He put the puzzle into his bag.

Yugi got to his feet continuing to plea. He did not notice that a few meters away a very familiar person was walking down the school steps accompanied by the Head Teacher. Atem smiled at the man, whose hair was greying, and shook the man's hand.

"Thank you very much for coming, I'm sure that students will be very excited for KaibaCorp's new product."

"It is I who should thank you, the students have given me some great feedback."

Something had caught the Head Teacher's eye, "Hey! Shouldn't you be in class?"

The group of students looked round. The taller boy put his arm around the smaller boy and led them around the corner, apparently heading to class. Satisfied, the Head Teacher turned back to Atem shook his hand once more before departing. Atem began walking away but he glanced back to where the group of students had been. He could have sworn he had seen Yugi. What was he doing there? He thought for a moment before concluding that it had probably been his imagination and continued his journey back to KaibaCorp.

Around, the corner Dean had pinned Yugi up against the wall. He had seen the other man who'd accompanied the Head Teacher and he looked an awful lot like Yugi.

"You know that guy with Mr Adams don't you."

Yugi bit his tongue, he too had seen Atem. He could not say anything, he had to protect Atem. But his stubbornness was rewarded when he was thrown violently against the wall.

"DON'T YOU!"

"Y-Yes, I know him. He's my cousin."

Dean smirked, he had originally thought that taking a possession of Yugi's would make sure Yugi did as they said but now he thought of something more.

"I told you last week that you were to do everything we said without question. You have failed. So, I shall be keeping this jewel of yours." Dean knelt down to be on eye level with Yugi, "You must do everything we tell you or else I shall break it or… " He paused for effect, "I might just arrange a little accident for your cousin and we wouldn't want that would we."

Satisfied by the terrified look the boy gave, Dean motioned to his gang to follow and they left. Yugi couldn't hold back his tears. Not only had Dean got the puzzle, he had made a direct threat to Atem. He had to protect Atem and that would mean doing exactly as they said. He knew the Dean was serious about his threat to Atem. He knew that if he did not do as he was told then Dean would hurt Atem. He could _not_ let that happen. Atem's safety was paramount now.

* * *

Yugi kept his head down all the way home; thoughts were going round his head. He was trying to figure out some way in which he would somehow be able get the puzzle but without telling Atem. Although part of him knew that it would perhaps it would be better to tell the former Pharaoh but at the same time if he did then who knew what would happen to Atem if he did. There was no way he was going to put Atem in danger, more then he already was. Opening the front door he didn't hear Grandpa's greeting and went straight up to his room. Shutting the door behind him he fell onto his bed, tears streaming. What was he going to do?

Grandpa watched his grandson walk upstairs without a word. He considered whether or not to follow him but decided that it might be best to let him come down in his own time. However, when Yugi had not come down by the time Atem came home he knew that now was the time to see what was going on.

"Do you want to go up to Yugi?" Grandpa said, as he chopped potatoes.

Atem pulled his coat off, looking at Solomon, "What's happened?"

"I don't know, he came home from school and went straight to his room and hasn't come down since."

Atem nodded and walked upstairs. He knocked on the door to Yugi's room and entered. Yugi was lying on his bed with his back to the door. He looked up at the noise, internally sighing as he saw Atem enter.

"What's up Yugi?"

Yugi sat up but did not respond. Atem sat down on the floor opposite to Yugi and continued to look at him. He could tell that something wasn't right.

"Is there anything that you want to tell me?"

Yugi looked directly at Atem. He had that look in his eye which told Yugi that he was not asking whether something was wrong. He _knew_ something was wrong. Having shared a mind for years they could both read each other like an open book. So, obviously Atem must have spotted something which told him that something was wrong with Yugi. The same for Yugi, he could tell when something wasn't right with Atem. The Pharaoh had very subtle facial expressions which portrayed how he was feeling. For example, the very subtle movement of his lower lip indicated that the Pharaoh was in pain. Yugi started. Atem had just made that movement. Looking up he saw that Atem had closed his eyes and was still biting his lower lip.

"What's wrong Atem?"

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong."

This would foul anyone but Yugi. Yugi knew that Atem was lying.

"You're lying."

"I know. I'm fine."

It was Yugi's turn to bit his lip. He had a horrid feeling he knew why Atem was in pain and that was Dean. Yugi studied Atem, he was the closest thing he had to a brother and he viewed him as his older brother. He could not let anything happen to Atem not after all he had done for him. He embraced the former Pharaoh. He knew that he was probably the one of the only ones who the Pharaoh would allow this action from when he was not at his best, his pride did not allow him to show weakness, and this was confirmed when the latter gave out a pained sighed before he pulled away, a small smile on his face.

"I'm fine. It's just stress. I'm going to get changed so remember that you can tell me anything."

Yugi watched Atem go, fresh tears in his eyes. He saw Atem pause at the door, leaning into the doorframe for support. He hated it when Atem was in pain and he knew that he was to blame. What the hell was he going to do?

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Did you enjoy? :S

Please please please review guys! Reading your reviews really motivates me to carry on and it is a delight to read you reactions to the story. So, please please review!


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

X

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X

 **Chapter 4**

Joey was not one to class himself as the brightest tool in the shed and accepted that he could fly off the handle for no reason. Although, if the situation involved Tristan the of course it was always Tristan's fault. Tristan was most likely asking for it. But other then that perhaps it could be classed as his fault, knowing all this it did not mean that Joey wasn't perceptive. He was. He could often tell if there was something that someone wasn't saying and Joey had noticed that there was something happening to Yugi. There was something that Yugi wasn't saying. But the problem was he did not know more than that. He didn't know what he was not saying and investigating it had not given him any answers. He had asked the others whether they knew of anything playing on Yugi's mind but they did not. So, that was why Joey was en route to Kaiba Corp. If he thought that he was perceptive then that was nothing to Atem. Atem was the kind of person who noticed everything, even more so when it came to Yugi. Seeing as those two had shared a mind it made sense that they could very easily tell when something was not right with the other. So, he would most likely know what was bothering Yugi and Joey wanted to know. If his best friend was in trouble he wanted to see what he could do to help.

The double doors of Kaiba Corp slid open revealing a large reception area. Near the back of the room was a long wooden desk with three people seated behind it. All of them were focused on the large computer screens. Around the room were various doors, where they led off to as beyond Joey. There was two lifts to either side of the reception desk, beside both of those were large signs displaying the many floor of Kaiba Corp and was what was on them. Straitening his bag slightly, he approached the desk. He was not sure which of them he should talk to. Knowing Kaiba each one of them probably had a different job. He probably looked like a right lemon standing awkwardly in front of the desk, he probably resembled a nervous school boy waiting to see the head teacher for some unknown reason. But he was really not sure what to do and for Joey, Mr Over-Confidant at times, this was rather unnerving. He was saved from this awkwardness when the lady with brown hair and soft, green eyes addressed him;

"You alright there sir?"

Joey approached the desk fully; "I was just wondering whether it would be possible to speak to my friend, Atem?"

The lady's eyes darted back to the screen; she seemed to be searching for something.

"What's his last name?"

Joey froze, he had no idea. Without releasing it an 'Ermm' sound was escaping his lips. _Well, this is embarrassing_ , He thought.

"You never cease to amaze me Wheeler." A voice said from behind him.

Joey spun round to glare at Kaiba.

"Watch it moneybags!"

"Seriously, you call yourself one of Atem's closest friends and yet you don't know his last name."

"Well, you don't know it either." Joey shot back.

"Oh I do."

Joey just glared at Kaiba for a few more minutes. Kaiba ignored this and approached the desk, handing a stack of paper to one of the other receptionists.

"I can vouch this _boy_ Natalie, I know him."

Joey's glare deepened at Kaiba emphasis on the word 'boy'.

"Of course Mister Kaiba." The Lady – Natalie –, turned back to Joey she and said; "You'll find Atem on the 42nd Floor."

Joey muttered thanks before heading to one of the lifts. He caught a glimpse of the sneer that Kaiba gave before the lift doors closed behind him. The now grumpy Joey folded his arms as the lift moved. Even the music seemed to be mocking him with that happy little tune. _Stupid Kaiba with his stupid hair,_ Joey grumbled to himself. That was not the best insult Joey could come up with but it was probably the politest. There as a small 'ping' as the lift stopped and the doors opened. Stepping out he found rows of desks, all with Kaiba Corp employees seated behind them. All of them were busy typing away, some go up to speak with other colleagues and some were busy on the phone. Joey walked along the outskirts, he was not too sure where Atem would be but he knew that Atem was Kaiba's second in command so he was just that the wooden door on the opposite side of the room belonged to Atem. On approaching it he confirmed that his was Atem's office as the door had a window which behind he could see Atem. He too was sitting behind his desk, but he was on the phone. Joey was reluctant to interrupt him but really didn't fancy standing awkwardly outside the door so he knocked. Atem looked up, still on the phone, upon seeing Joey he smiled and motioned to him to enter. He turned back to his computer screen as Joey entered.

"No, I told Alan that it needs to be brighter than that." Atem was saying, he was talking to a colleague on the phone, "It needs to stand out but not be to over powering."

There was a pause as the man replied and Atem searched for something on his computer.

"No, not that. There is a lighter one then that, try two eight seven." Another pause, "Brilliant, can you tell Alan that I will be down later to see his progress." One last pause, "Ok, bye."

Atem put down the phone, let out a sigh of relief and addressed Joey;

"Sorry about that. Designers.. they very keen on the minor details. What's up Joey?"

Before asking about Yugi, he had to know something;

"Does Kaiba know your last name?"

Atem was taken aback, "No, he doesn't. I don't have one."

Joey smirked, he knew it. Atem was still looking at Joey, slightly confused;

"Is that why you came here?

"No! No, I wanted to ask you something. I'm worried about Yugi. I just... I think there is something that is not right and he's not talking about it. I just wanted to know whether you know anything about it."

Atem sighed, "I'm afraid I don't Joey. I've been trying to find out for weeks now, I know that something is terribly wrong and I am a fearing the worse."

"You think someone is bullying him."

A nod, "But I have not been able to get solid evidence and I do not want to storm in with all guns blazing if I am wrong."

Atem got up and walked to the window, looking down at the main road leading up to Kaiba Corp. As eyes narrowed as he spotted something. Hurrying back to his computer he brought up the security cameras, looking at the picture which Camera One was showing he frowned. Camera One was located by the main entrance and through it he could see Yugi but there was some boys that he did not recognise talking to him.

"Joey, who is Yugi talking to?" Atem asked, motioning to Joey to look.

Walking round so he could see the screen Joey felt a rush of anger.

"That's Dean Harris. He's a right twat at school but I don't know why Yugi's talking to him as far as I know they don't know each other."

"Well, it seems like he does." Atem said, more to himself then Joey.

The two of them started at the screen before they saw Yugi walk closer to the camera, obviously entering Kaiba Corp.

"I'll talk to Yugi. Solomon is away for the week so it is just us so I'll try to get him to tell me but can you keep an eye on him at school and let me know anything odd." Atem said.

Joey had a feeling that if Yugi saw him, he would instantly become suspicious which would not help Atem's attempt to find out what was going on. Joey hurried to make it back to the lift, he had to take the long way as Yugi was heading towards the office, but somehow he managed it. The doors to the lift slid open and just as he entered Joey looked over at Yugi, who was entering Atem's office. Sighing, Joey stepped in the lift, the door sliding shut behind him.

Yugi greeted Atem half heartedly as he dumped his bag and flopped down into one of the chairs. Atem was filing things away into the filing cabinets.

"What should we get for dinner tonight?" Atem asked.

Yugi just shrugged, he did not make eye contact with Atem. He made no response when Atem continued to ask more questions. There was so much going round his head but the next thing that Atem said caught his attention.

"I have to pop down to see the designers before we go. Do you want to have a sneak preview of what we have been creating."

Yugi nodded, a little two enthusiastically. He heard a little about what was being planned but he would give anything to see it. He followed Atem back through the office and over to the lift. He felt slightly like a small child as he could feel how excited he was. Atem lead him to a large room. The room had two levels. They were currently on the upper level, around them was various computers, with people busy typing in front of the computers were large windows looking down into the lower level. Yugi gasped at what he saw. The Dark Magician. But he was real. Not like the hologram that he was accustomed to seeing. He was real! Atem looked at Yugi, he smiled and moved to the door that lead down to the lower levels. Moving over to the Dark Magician he eyed him up and down, he could not deny that he was in awe. The Magician was real, but at the same time he was not. He was still a hologram but reacted to the world around him and the owner and the opponent. Glancing up he saw Yugi, his gaze was locked on the magician that stood before him. Turning his attention to the Dark Magician he approached. The purple eyes of the magician focused on him, the staff swung in front him in a dangerous way. Unfazed Atem held out his hand, eyes fixed on the magician. The Magician studied the man before him before extending his own hand. The two shook hands. The magician's held felt very solid in the other's hand. It was incredible.

Back on the upper level Yugi gasped as he saw the two shake hands. It was amazing.

"This technology is revolutionary." One of the workers said, "Companies would pay millions for this."

Yugi glanced at the man before walking away. Finding a quiet corner he pulled out his phone and put it to his ear.

"What have you found brat?" A voice said, down the phone.

"A piece of technology." Yugi said, "It is worth millions."

A pause; "Good work brat." Dean said, "Right, you will help us obtain it. Tell no one. Do not tell your cousin if he finds out you _know_ what I will do to him."

Tears filled Yugi's eyes. Yes, he knew what Dean would do.

X

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X

Did you enjoy?

Please please please review! I really look forward to seeing them and they give me the drive to continue writing so _**please review**_!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

 **Heads up: Violence**

Enjoy!

X

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X

 **Chapter 5**

The early morning sun tinkled happily in the skin, making the dew on the leaves sparkle. All indications were that this was going to be a very pleasant day but Yugi could not take time to enjoy this weather. He was stood in secluded corner with Dean and the other members of the gang, all of whom were dressed in dark clothing was a scarf obscuring their nose and mouth making it difficult to identify them. Yugi looked round the corner at the building. They were stood near KaibaCorp, today was the day that they would conduct the break in. As it was only seven in the morning they were not expecting anyone to be there.

"Oi brat."

Yugi turned to face Dean.

"Where is your cousin?"

"He's at home."

"Really?" Dean questioned, an angry look in his eyes, "So, if he is at home why did I just see him walk into the building."

Dean pointed at the main doors to KaibaCorp, Yugi spun round and his heart dropped. Atem was there, he was just entering the building. What was he doing here? There was no opportunity to ponder this further as Dean had pinned him to the wall.

"Why is he here? What did you tell him brat?" Dean spat.

Yugi was trembling; "Nothing! He didn't tell him anything, I didn't even know he was coming in, I thought he had the day off!"

This was all true, he had no idea what Atem was doing there as he remembered last night Atem making a comment about having the day off. Tears filled his eyes;

"I honestly don't know why he's here."

Dean glared at Yugi. Weeks of planning had led to this but now the whole operation was in danger because of this brat.

"I told you that if you didn't do as you were told then I would arrange an accident for your cousin so now -"

"No! No! Please!" Yugi cried, tearing falling, "Don't hurt him, he's innocent in this."

Dean made no response but threw Yugi to the ground, before walking over to his gang who had been watching the whole exchange. But Yugi refused to let the subject drop;

"Please! Do whatever you wish to me but please leave him."

Dean was whispering words which Yugi could not hear but eventually he turned to Yugi;

"That will depend on you. You must do what we say."

Yugi nodded, he had to. He had to keep Atem safe but little did he know that Dean was lying to him. Dean exchanged a look with the others who were all smirking, they knew what was about to happen. The group moved out, they had located a back entrance which was barely ever used and that was where they were going to strike. The metal door was a well concealed which was perfect for the group. One by one the eight of them slipped inside. The corridor was dark, no lights had been turned on. The long corridor turned to the left and ended with a locked door, this had not been part of the plan. Dean rounded on Yugi;

"So, you didn't tell him. So why was the bloody doors shut." Dean hissed

"I don't know!" Yugi whispered back.

Another member of the gang whispered something in to Dean's ear.

"Go and get the keys from your cousin."

Yugi opened his mouth to speak but was cut off;

"Do you want me to hurt your cousin." A shake of the head was the response, "Then go."

Yugi turned to raced down the corridor as quietly as he could. He past no one and many of the lights were still turned off. Entering the reception through one of the many doors, he raced over to the lift jabbing his finger on the call button. He looked nervously around, the main doors were directly behind him and made of glass. If someone was to walk in right now they would see him. His heart skipped a beat as his fear was confirmed. Somebody was walking towards the building. His breaths came quicker and quicker, he glanced back at the lift and back towards the person who was coming closer and closer. The lift 'pinged' behind him, darting in his finger punched the button to the 42nd floor. The doors to the lift closed just in time. Yugi let out a sigh of relief and leant against the wall. He could feel the vibration from the lift as it moved through the wall. More tears slid down his face. He hated this. Hated it. How had he got himself into this in the first place? A hand covered his concealed forearm where there were countless bruises. He hated that fact that he was being forced to do things like this, but if he refused then he had been beaten but also more threats were made to Atem. He could not allow Atem to come to harm, not after all he had done for him. The lift doors opened and Yugi stepped out. The light was on in Atem's office indicating he was there. Yugi wanted nothing more than to go to Atem and beg him for help, he knew that Atem would help. But if he did that who knew what was going to happen to him.. to both of them.

The office door was slightly ajar, peering in he saw Atem. He was sitting at the desk, typing away at something. Yugi tried his hardest to stop his tears, but he couldn't help it. The way to stop this was sitting metres away but he could not tell him. His eyes found what he was looking for, the keys were on the desk but the problem was Atem was sitting at the desk how was he going to get them. He was crouched by the door for some time before the opportunity came. Atem's phone rang, when he answered he moved away from his desk and to the window. It was now or never. Silently, Yugi crept into the room and over to the side of the arm chair. Crouching behind it he peered around. Atem's back was still turned and it seemed as though he was nothing going to turn round. Crawling over to the desk, he reached up and encased the keys in his hand. He tried to close his hand as slowly as he could, that way the keys would not make any sound. With the keys safely in hand, Yugi scrambled back to the side of the arm chair and then back out the room. Little did he know that Atem had come off the phone and tried around.

Atem was not sure what he had seen but he could have sworn he saw a heel of someone's shoe. Frowning, he walked to the door and looked out. But the office was empty. Walking back into his office, Atem pulled the walkie-talkie from where it had been secured on his belt.

"Jim?" He asked into the walkie-talkie.

"Everything alright up there, Atem?"

Jim was one member of the security team who had been at in the building over night.

"How was last night? Any abnormal?"

There was a pause, Atem waited. After a couple of minutes, the response came.

"You better get down here."

* * *

Jim, a middle aged man with soft black hair, was sitting behind the many screens. His eyes were locked on one particular screen. The screen was projecting the image of Camera Twenty-Five. There was something that wasn't right. His eyes narrowed as he observed the screen. Behind him he heard the door open and Atem took a seat beside him.

"Look." Jim said, pointing at the screen, "It's very subtle but one moment the back door is shut but in the next shot it is open. I've looked and there is only a two second delay between the two images."

"That door is never in use." Atem stated, frowning, "Something is not right."

Suddenly, a beeping sound came from behind them. Jim leapt to his feet and found the source.

"That's the alarm in the equipment room. But it's only me and you in, no one should be in there."

Atem got to his feet, "I'll go and investigate. You call Kaiba, tell him the security code six."

Atem headed for the door when Jim stopped him;

"I'm the security officer, I'll go."

"No. You will do as I have asked," Atem said, sternly, "I have my radio with me so you can contact me if you're worried."

With that Atem left and Jim snatched the phone.

* * *

Slam! Yugi was slammed into a nearby cabinet, it broke due to the force.

"You told him!" Dean shouted, shaking Yugi.

"No! I swear I didn't!"

"Then why is he on his way down here!"

"I don't know! I swear I don't know."

The gang members surrounded to two. They had been searching for the technology but had not found it. In their frustration they had broken several electrical equipment which were letting out dangerous sparks. Dean was trembling with angry and he knew who was got to pay. He threw Yugi to another member of the gang.

"Take him. He will watch from up there." Dean pointed to an upper level.

The gang member dragged Yugi away as he continued to protest. Dean and the others positioned themselves around them room and they waited for the target. Yugi was being held on an upper level by another gang member. A hand was on his mouth to prevent him for making a sound. The upper level had a rail to prevent anyone falling off, it was had the perfect view of what was about to happen. The next few minutes were tense as they all waited for the arrival of the target. After five minutes Atem arrived. Fresh tears escaped Yugi's eyes as he watched. Atem looked around, he could see the many pieces of equipment broken. What was going on? He moved further into the room intent on investigating when a movement caught his eye. Someone was emerging from the shadows, following by five other people.

Atem folded his arms; "You have no reason or authorisation to be here. Did you not realise that a building like this would have security or that there's a security team here twenty four hours a day. I will only ask one, what are you doing here?"

There was no response but the six people got closer and closer. One of the hooded man, glanced up at something before all hell broke loose. On the upper level and still trying to escape Yugi's tears came thick and fast as he watched what happened. He watched and Dean and the others over-powered Atem forcing him to the ground. He saw the punches and kicks rain down on him. Then, Yugi struggled even harder as he saw this, Dean and two others pulled small kitchens knives from their pockets. Yugi was desperately trying to throw of the boy holding him but he was too strong. All of a sudden a loud, pained cry echoed through the room. Yugi stopped struggling. Atem was lying on the floor, blood rapidly pooling around him. One of the knives was stuck in his chest. Dean looked up at Yugi before motioning to his cronies to leave. He looked down at the man on the floor, he smirked before taking his own knife and carving words into the latter's exposed forearm.

* * *

Yugi was shoved to the ground outside. The other gang members had pulled him back round the corner, there they were awaiting Dean.

"How did you like that?" One of the gang spat, kicking him.

Yugi made no response but his tears kept coming. He had failed, he had tried to protect Atem. Atem was lying in that room in a pool of his own blood and it was his fault. A sudden thought crossed his mind. The puzzle! Dean still had it. But if it was intact then Atem would be ok, wouldn't he? If it was not broken it was stop Atem from dying. Yugi was brought out of his thoughts when Dean knelt in front of him.

"Well, have we learnt our lesson. Never cross me. I warned you wanted would happen." A hand appeared in Yugi's vision. Dean's had was covered in blood, Atem's blood.

Dean got to his feet and walked away.

"Wait!" Yugi called, getting to his feet, "My necklace, is it whole?"

"It is. For now." Was the response, "But cross me like that again and it won't be."

Yugi's burden seemed to intensify. Not only was he weighted down by the intense guilt but now he had to make sure that nothing happened to the puzzle. It was the only thing that could protect Atem now.

"Please." Yugi whispered in a broken voice, "Please let me go to him. He's family, I need to be with him."

Dean turned to look at the crying boy, "No, we are going to school now and you will say nothing."

Yugi pleaded with them as they dragged him to school. He needed to be with him. But his pleas fell on deaf eyes and he was forced into school. Yugi's tears didn't cease, they continued. It was all his fault.

* * *

His breathes came in painful gasps, to be truthful it was getting very difficult to breath. His chest was on fire, blood was pouring out of the wound. Various other wounds were also bleeding. His eyes were only just open, unconsciousness was calling to him but he was refusing to listen. He needed help. He considered himself a proud person and he did not like showing weakness but in this case he had to concede, he needed help desperately. His radio was laying on the floor, just out of reach. He's tried to stretch to get it but that had made things worse. The room was silence apart from the sounds of the electricity sparking. But the silence was broken;

"Atem? Atem? What's going on? Did you find anyone?"

It was Jim, on the radio. Atem renewed his efforts to stretch out with his hand to retrieve it. But the wound of his chest twisted painfully. Letting out a pained cry, he ceased his efforts. He really needed help but what could he do. The lullaby of unconsciousness was becoming overpowering. His eyes slipped shut and all went dark.

X

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X

Did you enjoy?

Longest chapter! I hope you can see why I put the rating up, it's just to be safe.

Please leave a review!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

X

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X

 **Chapter 6**

The whole school was talking about the break in at KaibaCorp, it was all over the news. This did nothing to ease Yugi's burden. It was a horrible experience for Yugi, hearing all the speculation on what had happened when he knew exactly what had happened. This had to stop, it had to stop now. He couldn't keep doing this, he had let it go too far already and now... now Atem was lying on a floor bleeding out. He thought that perhaps just continuing doing what he was told would work but the amount of gossiping that was going round was too much. He had no idea what Dean might drag him into but if was anything like what occurred that morning then he couldn't do it. No, he didn't want to do this anymore. But that became problematic as he would somehow need to get the puzzle back. He passed a group of boys talking about what had happened, he couldn't listen to this anymore. Yugi kept his head down, walking briskly towards his class room. He sat into his seat and hid his face in his hands. Tears leaked from between his fingers. He wanted to be with Atem right now, he needed to know if he was ok but Dean and his gang of punks were watching so there was no way he could go. He did not know how long he sat there before three voices entered the room.

"There he is!" A voice said, "Yugi, have you heard what happened at KaibaCorp this morning? What has Atem said?"

Yugi turned to see Joey, Tristan and Tea had entered the classroom. His friends saw the tear tracks on his face.

"You haven't heard from him have you?" Joey asked, concern entering his voice.

The three of the took their seats, all of them quiet for a moment.

"He's probably really busy seeing what has happened and hasn't got round to contacting us." Tea said. ,"Have you tried to contact him?"

"I... I have tried to contact him." Yugi lied, fresh tears falling, "Nothing, it just rang and then went to voicemail."

They fell silent. They knew that there was obviously a lot going on at KaibaCorp and they knew that in a situation like this Atem would contact Yugi just to reassure him but perhaps he was just too caught up with the vast amount of stuff that most be going on there at the moment. They did not speak as the rest of the class entered and the school day began. All were lost in their own thoughts.

The day was painfully slow for Yugi, the first two lessons were incredibly slow. The common topic was the break in a KaibaCorp, even the teachers were talking about it, and therefore he could not stop crying. He could not concentrate, he was desperate to get out of here. He looked out the window, tears falling gently. The teacher was explaining some mathematical theory that Yugi was not even attempting to listen to. But what did catch his attention was a knock at the door. All eyes immediately fell on the door. A small blonde women appeared.

"I'm sorry to interrupt Mr Jenkins." The women said, her eyes fell on Yugi, "Yugi? Could you come with me and bring all your things?"

Yugi knew what that meant, he imagined that someone from KaibaCorp had come to escort him to see Atem. He cleared his desk and headed towards door. As he left, he looked at Joey who was watching him with a worried expression on his face. He wanted to smile at him to reassure him but no expression appeared. Yugi followed the women silently to the office. He had expected someone from KaibaCorp or even Kaiba himself to be there. But he did not expect to see Grandpa standing there, he was crying. Yugi's tears came quicker as he moved over and accepted the embrace that Grandpa offered. After a couple of seconds they broke apart, Grandpa set a hand on Yugi's shoulder.

"There's been a break in at KaibaCorp, as you probably know.." Grandpa paused, tears still falling, "Atem was caught in it, he was attacked by the people who broke in. He's in hospital."

Yugi did not know what to do, he knew what had happened to Atem, he had seen what had happened. Luckily, Grandpa saved him from having to make a response;

"I've been to the hospital but I thought I should come and get you. You don't have to come with me but knowing the bond you two have I thought you want to."

Yugi nodded and Grandpa moved to the reception desk where he signed Yugi out of school and the two of them started to walk out of the school grounds.

"What's wrong with him?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know, all I know is that he's in surgery at the moment. They said he might be in there for some time so it can't be good."

They had just reached the gates when a voice called to Yugi;

"Yugi? Where are you going? We have a project due!"

It was one of Dean's punks.

"I'm sorry but we have to go." Grandpa said.

"But _Yugi_." The gang member insisted.

"Sorry son, family business."

Grandpa pulled Yugi away but not before the member of the gang sent a glare towards Yugi. As they walked towards the car, Yugi's thoughts turned back to the gang. He really had to figure out what he was going to do. His carelessness had caused this and he had to fix it. The two of them were quiet as they drove to the hospital, both still had tears rolling down their faces. Both their thoughts were on the same thing or rather person. Atem.

* * *

It had been hours. Yugi and Grandpa had been in the waiting room for hours waiting for news on Atem, but all they had been told was that he was still in surgery. It was a bad thing, Yugi knew it. The waiting room was almost empty, it was the surgical waiting room where only families of patients undergoing surgery would wait. Judging by the emptiness it seemed not many people were having surgery today. Grandpa was gripping his empty coffee cup so tight that the cardboard was beginning to split. Both of them were desperate for news. The door to the waiting room open and two men entered, both wearing scrubs and scrub caps. They scanned the room before making their way towards Yugi and Grandpa.

"How.. How is he?" Grandpa asked, half raising from the chair.

The men sat opposite to him; "He's in recovery. Has anyone told you exactly what the extent of his injuries are?"

Both Grandpa and Yugi shook their heads;

"The surgery was for a stab wound to the chest, the knife was actually left in so we had to remove it and repair the damage. There were various others stab wounds and there are words carved in to his right forearm. Those cuts should heal nicely on their own. He should be ok, it took us a while to remove the knife and repair the lung, which collapsed after we removed the knife. He's responded very well, I would normally expect a patient with those injuries to come out of surgery and be on a ventilator but he's breathing on his own which is a very good sign. When he's out of recovery he'll be transferred into the ICU, someone will come down to get you when he's been moved there."

Yugi bowed his head, more tears falling. It was bad enough that he had watched Atem get injured but now he knew exactly the extent of the injuries. The two surgeons left a few minutes later and the wait began all over again.

They waited for another hour and a half before a nurse entered the room asked them to follow. They followed the nurse up in to the Intensive Care Unit, the unit had many rooms each occupied by a patient and their families. Each room had a glass sliding door which meant the nurses could easily see in. The nurse led them to the other side of the unit, this room was the closest to the nurses' station. The brown hair nurse led them inside. If it was possible more tears slipped down Yugi's cheeks. Atem was laying in the bed, eyes closed with an oxygen mask on his face. His right arm was bandaged and was resting on his chest. There were various tubes and wires connected to him. He had at least 4 catheters attached to the back of his left hand from which tubes were connected, all supplying some sort of liquid. There was a nasty scratch on his cheek and a black bruise had developed around it.

"Has he woken at all?" Grandpa asked.

"He was awake in the recovery unit but he went to sleep on the way down here. He's doing well, but because of the extend of his injuries we'll keep him here for a few days."

Neither of them said a word. Yugi was the first to move, he moved to Atem's side and took a seat, staring at the former Pharaoh's face. It was all his fault, all of this was his fault. He took Atem's hand, being mindful of the various tubes attached there. Grandpa hadn't moved, but there was something he wanted to know.

"The doctor said that there were words carved on his forearm. What are the words on his arm?" Grandpa asked.

"Secrets have a cost."

More tears fell from Yugi's eyes, he knew who that was directed at. It would serve as a constant remainder for Yugi about keeping secrets. His eyes scanned over the slumbering king in front of him. There were various cuts and bruises all over his arms. His tears didn't cease, they came thick and fast. He had to put a stop to this, for Atem's sake.

X

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Yugi and Atem's relationship is purely brotherly there is nothing more! Just so you know.

Please Review!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

X

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X

 **Chapter 7**

Yugi was sat in the kitchen, pushing a spoon around the bowl. It had been nearly a week since the incident at KaibaCorp and Yugi's sense of guilt had just got worse. He hated seeing his closest friend in the world in the condition he was. Atem was still in the intensive care unit, the doctors were slightly concerned about something which they had no disclosed yet. In their words they did not want to worry them unnecessarily but of course not telling them what they suspected was causing them distress. As for the Pharaoh himself, he was in sort of positive spirit. He was confused over what happened and in pain but he still tried not to linger on the subject. When the police had come to the hospital to question him, he told them that he had no idea who his attackers were and what they looked like. If anything, he'd been even more confused after talking to the police. Yugi was still struggling with what to do, he hadn't come up with a way to stop all this. He had let it go too far. But what could he do? There was now a permanent remainder to Yugi not to tell through the words written on Atem's arm which did put him off telling. But he had to think of something, this situation was getting out of hand. A glass was set down in front of him which brought him out of his thoughts. Grandpa gave him a small smile;

"You should drink and eat something before we go."

Yugi sighed and began eating his cereal. Grandpa grabbed himself some breakfast before joining Yugi at the table. They both sat in silence as they ate breakfast. It was like there was a hole in their home, someone was missing. It was weird not seeing Atem walking round the house, not hearing him walk into something as he normally did when he stumbled around in the morning. It meant that the house was too quiet and neither of them liked it. After breakfast they got straight in the car and made their way to hospital. On the way there Yugi saw his classmates all walking to school. He had been given time away from school to be with Atem as he recovered, and this he was grateful for. It was giving him a rest from Dean, not to say that Dean was leaving him alone. That was a lie, Dean was always there and would not leave him alone, he would constantly remind Yugi that he was there, through texts and phone calls. It was driving Yugi insane, how was he supposed to think of a way to end this when Dean was constantly be on his case. They arrived at the hospital and hurried up to the ward. Nothing had changed in the week that Atem had been there, all the beds in the unit were occupied and the nurses were all rushing around. All looked as it had been the previous day.

But when they approached Atem's room they found that they could not enter, they were told to wait. There was no word they were just told to wait. The curtain had been drawn across the glass so they could not even see what was happening. A nurse called them over to the desk;

"We were concerned last night with Atem's breathing so we ran some tests." The Nurse explained, "The doctor found that there was fluid which had built in his lungs which has been affecting his breathing. The doctors are draining the fluid now, so that's why you can't go in yet. But don't worry he'll be fine."

Ten anxious minutes passed before the doctors came out told them they had been successful and that they could go in. Atem was lying on his side, eyes shut. Yugi moved over and hopped up onto the bed, so he was sitting next to Atem. He didn't disturb Atem as it was clear from the slight movement of his bottom lip showed that he was in pain. Instead Yugi pulled out his phone, he saw around five messages from Dean. All of them had a similar theme, reminding him not to say anything. One of the messages had a picture of the puzzle, with one piece missing and a reminder that this would be the next thing to be destroyed. His heart stopped, with the puzzle not whole Atem's condition would go downhill. Part of him prayed that as only one piece was missing that nothing drastic happened and that would give him time to come up with a plan. Little did he know that Atem had been watching and reading the texts.

* * *

Dean was sat in a back corner of the school grounds, the golden necklace sat in front of him. In his hand was the bottom piece which he had removed, he was throwing up and catching it lazily. He was pondering what to do next, they could try to enter KaibaCorp again but then it was most likely a bad idea. After what had happened there was likely to be more security now. They would have to abandon their plan to steal and sell Kaiba's new product. Dean leant back against a tree, that plan had failed due to the brat and the brat now had the nerve to stop responding to his texts. A smirked crossed his face, he knew what had could do. Getting to his feet he replaced the necklace in his bag and walked out of the school grounds, not even bothering to look round at the teacher who called out to him. He walked at a brisk pace, it did not take him long to reach his destination. The Kame Game Shop, it looked empty. Well, he had seen Yugi drive past the school with his grandfather so it was unlikely that he would be back here. The front door was made a glass, the perfect way to enter. Positioning himself in front of it, he kicked it. There was an ear-splitting smash as the glass shattered. The glass from the door fell to the ground where is smashed again. Not sparing a glance to the mess he had made he walked into the game shop. Once in, he walked over to the shelves which were stacked full of trading cards. Placing his left foot on the shelf, he pushed it over. There was a satisfying bang when the wooden shelf hit the floor, the cards went everywhere. Dean didn't stop there, all of the other three shelves were pushed over. The till was robbed of its contents and pushed on the ground. Taking out the golden necklace Dean broke it, he put half of the pieces on the counter and the rest back in his bag. Standing back to admire his work, Dean took out his phone. Taking a picture of his handy work, he left. If this didn't teach that brat then nothing would.

* * *

Yugi was staring into space, he had been lost in thought of hours. Atem was asleep next to him, he was still in a lot of pain and unbeknownst to Yugi it was gradually getting worse. Grandpa had gone down for some food a while ago but had not come back. Yugi was trying to figure out what to do. Maybe it was time to front up to Dean and make him stop. He was also considering going to the police, but he was worried about whether he would get into trouble. He had been involved with what had happened at KaibaCorp. This was infuriating, he had to think of something. He was brought out of his thinking when he felt Atem stir next to him. Looking over he saw that Atem was awake but he looked like he was in pain. It wasn't just a subtle indication that he was in pain, it was clear on his face. His left hand was in his chest, where the incision wound was. The other hand, the bandaged one, was running through his hair another indication that he was not uncomfortable.

"Atem? What's wrong?" Yugi asked.

Atem closed his eyes for a moment, "Where's the puzzle Yugi?"

"What?"

Atem closed his eyes again, he took in a pained breathe, "The puzzle Yugi, where is it?"

This was the question that he had been dreading. How was he supposed to tell him that the puzzle was gone. Atem had noticed Yugi's silence.

"Yugi?"

"Atem, there's something I need to tell you."

Yugi looked at Atem, whose eyes had widened whether it was out of fear he wasn't sure. Yugi opened his mouth to speak but he was cut off when Grandpa hurried into the room.

"Yugi! Someone broke into the game shop! They broke everything, stole the money."

Yugi didn't have to think who it was, he knew. Grandpa had a bag with him which he handed to Yugi. Inside the bag were pieces of the puzzle. But it was not all of it.

"Why is the puzzle broken Yugi?" Grandpa said, glancing at Atem, he knew that Atem's life was tied to it.

Yugi was panicking. He looked between Grandpa and Atem, he did not know what to do. Slipping off the bed, he pulled Grandpa out of the room. There he explained everything. All about Dean, what had really happened at KaibaCorp.. everything.

"Yugi? Why didn't you say?"

"He threatened Atem, Grandpa. I had to protect him but I failed and now look at him." Yugi was pacing, "Grandpa, with the puzzle broken Atem won't survive. I have to find the other half of it. I don't know how long Atem can survive."

Grandpa looked at his distressed grandson. He was not happy that Yugi had kept this secret but he knew that Yugi had only done it to protect Atem.

"You have to tell him Yugi, he needs to know."

"He'll of guessed by now..."

"But still you need to tell him what's going on, he needs to hear it from you and then you have to find the puzzle."

Yugi was about to speak when they heard a choked cough coming from Atem's room. Both their blood ran cold and they burst back into the room. Atem was slightly hunched over, a hand to his mouth. Atem looked at them, his hand lowering slightly. His hand was covered in blood and the was a trickle of blood running down from the corner of his mouth. Atem's face was deadly pale and his expression... Yugi had never seen this expression before. His expression was one of terror, he was terrified. A split second later Atem coughed again, doubling over. More blood rushed out of his mouth. He looked at Yugi, pure terror in his eyes;

"Find it Yugi. Please, find the puzzle."

X

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Cliff hanger!

Dun dun dun!

Please Review!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

X

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X

 **Chapter 8**

Yugi sprinted up the street, running as fast as he could. The only sounds that he registered were the sounds of his feet slapping against the pavement and the sounds of his breaths, which were coming out as harsh pants. He had to hurry. He skidded to halt in front of a door. Yugi whacked his fist against the door.

"Joey!" Yugi bellowed, "Joey! Are you there?"

He waited with bated breath, there was no answer. He hammered on the door once again.

"Joey!"

Yugi paused but again there was nothing. He raised his hand for the three time to bang on the door when the door opened and there stood Joey. His hair was damp indicating that he had just been in the shower.

"Yugi? What's going on?"

"I need your help, Joey. Dean has the puzzle and I have to get it." Yugi was talking very fast, "Atem is dying right now and I have to find the puzzle to save him."

Joey gapped at him, "Wait, what? What's going on?"

For the second time that night Yugi had to explain what was going on. But this time he explained it at lightning speed. Joey was shocked to hear that Yugi had gone through and that he had not told anyone. He had guessed that something was happening to Yugi, but he had not known it was to this extend, if he had then he would have confronted Dean himself and told him to back off. But he had not, both him and Atem had been in the dark over it and now it seemed that not only had Dean hurt Yugi but he had hurt Atem as well. Joey was not going to let this creep get away with hurting his friends.

"We have to hurry, Atem's dying!" Yugi cried, he'd seen that the latter was lost in thought but now was not that time to think, now was the time to act.

Yugi sprinted away, with Joey hot on his heels. He didn't really know where he was going but for some reason he entered up running to the park. He came to a stop by the swings, staring around as if an idea on what to do would be written somewhere.

"What now Yugi?"

"I don't know but I have to do something quick."

Joey opened his mouth to speak but paused for a minute, considering whether it was the right thing to say. He decided to say it anyway;

"Have you considered going to the police. Tell them what happened they can help you."

"But what about Atem? He's dying! I have to get puzzle back or he dies."

"Ok, let's get the puzzle and then go to the police."

Eyes swam in Yugi's eyes as his gaze met Joey's.

"But how are we going to get it back? There's not much time."

Joey just looked at Yugi, helplessness in his eyes. he did not know what to do. But then he thought of something, pulling out his phone he scrolled through his contacts until he found the person he was looking for.

* * *

He reached out, grasped the latter's hand, the owner of the other hand, recognising the touch, weakly gripped on to his hand. The only sounds in the room was a beeping from a nearby machine and shallow breaths. Every so often there was the sound of choking and blood poured from the other's mouth. Gripping the hand tighter, he glanced at the door. What was taking so long? There was not long left, if help didn't come soon then it was all over. The grip on his hand slackened, his head whipped around. The boy in front of him, whose hand he had been holding on to, had stopped breathing.

* * *

Dean leant against the tree, watching the three people in front on him. He had a perfect spot between these trees. He could see what was going on but nobody could see him. The three people in front of him, they were arguing over something. He was only in the park as the rat had told him to meet him there, but he did not expect two other people to be there. So, he'd stood hidden in the bushes just to observe the scene. Dean looked at the brat's face, Yugi seemed to be really upset by something. His name came up, his eyes widened upon hearing it. So, the rat had told. Well, that wasn't good... for Yugi. Deciding it was time to join in this conversation, he stepped out from between the trees. His footsteps were silent so it was only when Yugi had spotted him that the conversation stopped.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Tristan snapped, rounding on Dean, "How dare you pick on our friend?"

"Oh, I am so scared." Dean said sarcastically to Tristan before turning to Yugi; "So little rat. You told. Remember me saying that bad things would happen if you did." Dean held up the half-broken puzzle, "I have sold two pieces of this. You will never get it back."

Yugi's heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be, he could not and would not believe it. What if Dean was telling the truth? What if he had sold pieces of it? That would mean Atem would die and it would be all his fault.

"You're lying!" Yugi cried desperately, "Please give it back to me!"

Dean snorted, "I find it amusing that you care more about a necklace then a member of your own family." Dean glanced at the puzzle, "Now that I have dealt with this necklace, I shall go and _deal_ with your cousin."

Joey stepped in front of Yugi, "You will go nowhere near him or Yugi."

"Oh look, the blonde idiot thinks he's tough."

Dean squared up to Joey, they were just about the same height, Joey was taller by a fraction on an inch. Tristan moved in as well.

"You will hand the necklace back to Yugi and clear off." Joey words came out as an order. "You will leave him and his family alone. You got that?"

"What will you do if I don't?"

A second later Dean was on the floor, a hand on his check. The puzzle fell from his hand to the ground. Tristan dived for it just as Dean realised what had happened. Jumping to his feet Dean tackled Tristan but Tristan had thrown the puzzle to Yugi, who caught it.

"Run Yugi!" Joey called, as he ran to Tristan's aid, "Go!"

Yugi hesitated, he didn't like the fact that his friends could be in harm's way over a situation which was all his fault.

"But guys-"

"No buts!" Joey shouted, "GO!"

He hesitated for another second but then took off, running as fast as he could towards the hospital. By the sounds of it Dean was trying to come after him but Joey and Tristan were putting up a fight. Rain poured from the sky as Yugi ran, his feet slapped against the wet pavement. _Hang in there Atem, I'm coming_ , he thought. This ran seemed to go on forever, the hospital seemed to be getting further away rather than closer. Finally, he reached the hospital steps which he took three at a time. He raced through the corridors ignored the calls from various doctors to slow down. Slamming his fist on the 'call' button to the lift, he paced before it and it _slowly_ came down to his level. He didn't even wait for people to exit the lift, he forced his way in and punched the number of the floor he wanted. As the lift moved Yugi examined the puzzle. He prayed that all of the pieces were there, if not then his closest friend in the world would die and it would be all his fault. The only way to find out was the put it back together, if pieces had been sold then maybe he could find it after rebuilding most of it because perhaps that would give Atem more time. That would then hopefully give Yugi time to track down the pieces of the puzzle. When the doors slid open Yugi sprinted out and down to the Intensive Care Unit. There he skidded to a halt. What he saw made his heart stop. There was so many doctors surrounding Atem's bed that Yugi could not see him. Tears ran down Yugi's face, was he too late?

* * *

Joey stood, breathing hard, blood tricking for his nose. Tristan was in a similar state. They glared at the boy a few feet away who was slowly getting to his feet.

"I hope you have learnt your lesson." Joey spat, folding his arms, "Never threaten our friend again."

Dean gave Joey a glare which could have split him in two. He stumbled forwards.

"Your little friend is in for it now. Mark my words!"

With that Dean turned and limped away.

"Yeah! Keep walking!" Tristan yelled to Dean's turned back.

Joey and Tristan exchanged a glance before they walked away, making their way towards the hospital to find out the former King's fate.

* * *

Yugi was rooted to the spot, staring into Atem's room. Grandpa, who had been standing in the corner of the room crying, he saw Yugi and hurried out with the bag containing the puzzle in his hand. He had seen that Yugi was holding the other half.

"Quick Yugi!" He called, "Quick! Build the puzzle, his heart has stopped and the doctors are desperately trying to save him. Help him."

Yugi stared at the scene for another second but snatching the bag off Grandpa. Not caring if he was in the way he began building. He had never tried to build the puzzle this quickly. Yugi had considered whether to try to build it as quick as possible once as a sort of challenge, he had been very bored that day. But the rather disgruntled response from the former Pharaoh, who had living in the puzzle at the time, stopped him not that he was going to do, it had just been a thought. It seemed as though he had memorised where all the pieces should go as it did not take him as one as he expected it do to put all the pieces together. All of the pieces had been there, Dean had been lying. With the puzzle whole, Yugi stood and looked into the room. The doctors had paused, none of them were saying anything. Was he too late? One by one the doctors filed out of the room, apart from one doctor and a nurse. Together, Grandpa and Yugi walked into the room fearing the worst. Atem was so pale, there was still dried blood by the corner of his mouth leading all the way down to his chin. _He's dead. Atem's dead and it's my fault_ , Yugi thought. He looked down at the puzzle. It was too late. A beeping sound disturbed his thoughts, what was it? Slowly, barely allowing himself to hope, he looked up. The monitor next to Atem's bed was beeping and Yugi knew what that meant. Relief flooded him, Atem was alive. The nurse was placing an oxygen mask over his face. The doctor turned to Yugi and Grandpa.

"He's alright." The doctor said, "He's unconscious at the moment but he's breathing and has a steady heartbeat. We think the strain and stress of his injuries caused the cardiac arrest so we are going to keep him here under close observation."

Yugi wasn't listening, he moved forwards. He placed the puzzle by Atem's left hand, the smooth surface brushed the latter's hand, the eye of the puzzle lit up slightly. This was a sign that it was supporting Atem, healing his injuries. Moving back he sunk into the chair his gaze never leaving Atem. After awhile the doctor and nurse left and Grandpa took a seat opposite to Yugi whose gaze changed to Grandpa.

"Now what?" He asked.

"You talk to the police." Grandpa replied. "Then you can end this once and for all."

X

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So what did you think?

We are one chapter for the end so next chapter will be the last and I have some news to share next time although you can probably guess what it will be!

Please please please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi.

Enjoy!

 _Italics_ are for a flash back :)

X

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X

 **Chapter 9**

Atem stood by the cupboard, looking up at a glass cup. Gritting his teeth, he reach up and grabbed one. The wound on his chest roared in protest, but he stubbornly ignored it. But when there was another more painful throb from his chest he paused, breathing through the pain. His, now un-bandaged, right hand went to the affected area while the other was gripping the cup. As well as having to deal with a recovering lung injury, one of his ribs had been broken when the doctors had resuscitation him. But luckily, that seemed to be healing on its own. His other wounds were still recovering, the cuts and bruises not fully healed yet. It seemed as though it was going to take a while for him to fully recover but he was grateful that he was alive. With the pain easing, he moved to the sink and filling the cup with water. He had spend over two weeks in hospital, so to be allowed to recover at home was much better in Atem opinion. Picking up the glass he moved back into the living room, Kaiba was sitting on the sofa his pen scribbling away on a notepad. Kaiba's laptop was on the table, and he kept glancing at it every now and again. Next to the laptop, the Millennium Puzzle glinted happily in the sunlight from the nearby window. Atem set the glass down by Kaiba before settling himself back on the sofa, pulling his blanket back over himself.

"You know if Wheeler saw what just happened he would be yelling at me for making you do that." Kaiba said.

"Probably." Atem said, he smiled slightly.

"Hey, you offered! I did say I would have done it but no you wanted do it."

Atem snorted in amusement. Kaiba had turned up half an hour ago, and had been working solidly since. He had been asking Atem a load of questions about work which to be honest Atem didn't appreciate. He might be out of hospital but, as much as he hated to admit it, he was still weak and really did not want to have to deal with work at the moment. But then again, he was glad of the company, Yugi and Solomon had been out for hours now. They were obviously busy as Yugi had not text him for a while, whereas earlier it had been literally every five minutes. He repositioned himself, grimacing slightly as there was a throb of pain. He was really tried and wanted to sleep but he wouldn't while Kaiba was here.

"Alan told me that the interactions of all the monsters have been perfected so I believe we should be able to launch the prototype soon."

"Sounds good." Atem replied, failing to stop the yawn that escaped his mouth.

Kaiba had noticed the yawn, he was not so focused on work to have not noticed that. His mind travelled back to that day at KaibaCorp before he could stop it.

 _Kaiba marched up the front steps with Mokuba hot on his heels. To say he was angry was an understatement. He was fuming, he had got the call from the security officer to say there had been a break in. Jim met him in the reception area looking nervous._

 _"What the hell is going on here Jim?" He barked._

 _"Someone managed to get it to the building. They went down to the equipment room, Atem is down there now but I haven't heard back from him."_

 _Kaiba and Mokuba exchanged a quick look, he nodded at Mokuba. Mokuba turned and hurried off. Turning his attention back to Jim, he asked - or rather - demanded to know exactly what was going on. Jim took him down to the back entrance where the robbers had entered. They were about to make their way back up to the security office to look at the CCTV when there was a scream;_

 _"SETO!"_

 _Recognising his brother's voice, Kaiba sprinted towards the sound. He could tell that his little brother had been scared by something. Maybe it was the robbers, perhaps they were still in the building. That would be preferable as then he would know exactly who he needed to question and send them to the police. But the sight that greeted him was something he had not been expecting. Blood. All of the floor. Mokuba was staring in horror at something, his face was white. He looked down. Atem was lying there, a knife stuck into his chest. Blood was pouring out of his chest on to the floor. His right arm was bleeding to but a closer revealed that the source of the bleeding was some words. Words that had been cut into the flesh. Various other cuts were bleeding but the main wound was on the chest._

 _"Call an ambulance and the police." He barked at Jim, whose face had turned as white as a ghost._

 _Stepping round, Kaiba knelt beside Atem not caring that blood was soaking into his trousers. Atem's eyes were closed and his face was desperately pale._

 _"Is he alright Seto? Is he going to be alright?" Mokuba asked in a small voice._

 _"I don't know Mokuba, I don't know."_

Kaiba looked at Atem as the memory of how he had looked when Mokuba found him played in his mind. It had been lucky for Atem that the ambulance had arrived as quickly as it did. He wanted to say something to Atem about that day but decided not to. That meant that the only noises for a few moments were the sounds of Kaiba typing away on his keyboard. But then a phone rang, it was so high pitched that the sound seemed to bounce around Atem's head. Kaiba answered it, as he spoke he began packing away his things. Atem was glad of this, as much as he did enjoy the work at KaibaCorp he really just wanted to rest at the moment. Kaiba announced that he had to go a couple of minutes later, Atem made to get up and see him out but Kaiba told - or rather ordered - him not to. To be honest Atem was glad that he would not have to get up. As he heard the front door close, his eyelids drooped and he fell asleep.

* * *

Yugi sighed as he got out of the car, walking towards the game shop. Grandpa was behind him. Neither of them spoke as they entered the game shop, making their way up the stairs into the living room. There they found Atem asleep on the sofa, while Yugi went straight into the kitchen. Grandpa went upstairs and brought Atem's duvet down, laying it gentle on top of the sleeping king before he joined his Grandson in the kitchen. Yugi was staring out of the window.

"What's wrong Yugi? You barely said a word since we left the police station."

Yugi glanced at his fingers before back out the window, "I can't help but worry. I know talking to them is the right thing to have done but I'm worried that I'm going to be in trouble over what's happened. I know that I deserve to get in trouble because I let it happen but I can't stop worrying."

Grandpa wanted to say something that might comfort his grandson, but he was not sure what to say. Yugi had been involved with the break in at KaibaCorp but he had been blackmailed into it and the only thing he did was take Atem's keys.

"It wasn't your fault Yugi, you were blacked mailed into doing it."

Yugi stared at his grandfather, he didn't know what to say. There was an odd sort of silence as Grandpa stared at Yugi and Yugi stared back. It was Grandpa who eventually broke it by glancing up at the clock and announced that he would start dinner. Whilst Grandpa busied himself in the kitchen, Yugi moved back into the living room. Atem was still fast asleep on the sofa which meant that the only sound in the room was his steady breathing. Yugi sat in an armchair and listened to the other's breathing. It was reassuring for Yugi to hear it as after Atem's near death experience he was obsessed with making sure that Atem stayed alive and still breathing. Logic told him that as the Millennium Puzzle was whole which meant that Atem would be fine but he could not stop worrying. It could probably be put down to the fact that Yugi felt that he should be the one recovering from injuries not Atem. Atem had done nothing to deserve it and the fact that he was like this now was entirely Yugi's fault. Yugi's eyes locked on the scars on Atem's right forearm, _Secrets have a cost,_ those words would permanently scar. It would serve as a constant reminder of what the cost had been to Yugi to keep that secret, the secret of what Dean had been doing to him.

Atem knew what had happened with Yugi over the past months and he knew that Yugi had been involved with the KaibaCorp break in, Yugi had told him the whole story. He did not hold Yugi accountable for anything, not once had he blamed Yugi even though Yugi had tried to make him blame him. He also never complained about his injuries or when he was in pain, he took it all in his stride. But Yugi knew when Atem was pain due to the subtle facial expression he would make, he would ask whether Atem needed anything but the latter always refused telling him 'I'm fine'. Yugi was brought out of his thinking when there was a sharp intake of breath. Atem was still asleep but he had moved in his sleep and that had aggravated his injuries. Atem's eyes had closed tighter and his eyebrows furrowed, yet he did not stir from his sleep. Yugi watched as Atem's pain eased and he let out a tried huff falling back into deep sleep. The smell of food wondered into the room, Yugi knew that dinner would be soon. Not that he was that thrilled to have food, he was feeling pretty low and eating would just make that worse. A couple of minutes later Grandpa called him through to eat. Yugi sat down at the table, staring at his food he didn't really fancy eating. Grandpa had gone into the living room, Yugi could just see him knelt by Atem's side. A minute later, Grandpa joined him at the table.

"He's in a very deep sleep, I couldn't wake him."

Yugi made to stand, but Grandpa stopped him;

"He's fine Yugi, just leave him to sleep. You can wake him a bit later and we'll see if he wants to eat but for now let him sleep."

Letting out a sigh Yugi turned to his food, not that he wanted it. He ended up pushing it around his plate. He had too much on his mind. They had got half way through the meal when there was a noise behind them. Atem had woken and was lingering in the doorway. It was clear from his face that he was still very tired.

"Would you like something to eat, Atem?" Solomon asked.

Atem shock his head, "No thank you. I think I'm just going to go bed. I'm shattered."

"I'll get your duvet." Yugi said, quickly, getting to his feet.

Atem smiled, moving away towards the stairs. Yugi grabbed Atem's duvet and followed Atem up, he wanted to talk to Atem, wanted to ask him his advice. Atem had gone to change in the bathroom, he was unsteady on his feet showing just how tired he was. When he came back he saw Yugi sat on the end of his bed. Taking a seat on the bed, he looked at Yugi.

"What's wrong Yugi?"

"I'm feel really bad because what I did to you."

"Don't be Yugi." Atem said, "You did nothing to me. Those boys did this not you. I do not blame you for any of this."

"But it should be me suffering, not you!" Yugi insisted.

"Yugi, you need to stop beating yourself up over this. It's in the past now. The police are dealing with it and I am fine. You don't need to worry ."

Atem settled himself into his bed, he was fighting to stay awake but he needed to reassure Yugi that everything was going to be ok.

"Don't worry Yugi. The police are going to help you and I am going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine."

Yugi smiled slightly, he opened his mouth to speak but looking over at Atem he saw that the former King was slipping off to sleep. It was clear that he was tired. Moving over to the door, he looked back for a moment before softly closing the door.

* * *

Yugi walked out of the police station and down the steps. He felt as though a huge weight had been lifted. It was over, it was all over. Everything was finally going to be alright. Dean and his cronies were being dealt by the police and Yugi was free. He would not have to deal with them anymore, and his fear of repercussions had not come true. Yugi stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked up as Grandpa descended to join him. He smiled at his grandfather, it was the relief.

"Happy." Grandpa asked.

"Very." Yugi said, "Let's go and tell Atem! Then, can we get something nice for tea?"

"Like what?"

"Burgers!"

Grandpa laughed, patting his grandson on the back, "Of course, my boy."

The grin on his grandson's face was enough to say how he was feeling now. After all this time, everything was going to be alright.

X

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And that's it! The end! I hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you for reading!

Please leave a review!

Sooo... I have a new story upcoming! I am excited about this one! It's called 'The Captured Prince' and it shall be released sooon! Not sure when as I am proof reading the first chapter at the moment so that it's ok! So I shall see you soon with my new story!

~RedRosePetal


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